The Alberta Environmental Farm Plan wants to hear from Alberta producers on the introduction of a new renewal period to keep Alberta competitive globally. The reasons to farm in an environmentally sustainable way gets longer every year. From cost reductions and improved efficiencies to building social license and engaging the next generation in operations, environmental planning is regularly becoming part of the business planning process for a wide variety of reasons. To keep all those with a plan current, the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan is introducing a renewal period requirement for the AEFP.

Updating your environmental farm plan is not only just good business, but it also helps Alberta farmers position themselves strategically in global markets. The Environmental Farm Plan sees a renewal period for the program as essential to keep pace with the global environment. The Alberta Environmental Farm Plan is proposing to add a requirement to renew environmental farm plans starting in April 2018. Having an Alberta Environmental Plan in some cases affects funding opportunities and sustainable resourcing initiatives, so the Alberta EFP is looking to gather feedback on potential issues to make this change as seamless as possible.

“Farms and their related agribusiness do better when they work together rather than in a vacuum”, says Paul Watson, the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Director, “this also means keeping pace with green practices including renewing our environmental farm plans regularly. We understand that this change may be difficult and over the next year we will be giving all those wanting to do an Environmental Farm Plan the infrastructure to do so quickly and easily, so there is no disruption to their operations.”

The Alberta Environmental Farm Plan is looking for feedback on the proposed changes to a renewal period in the next year. All those affected by the change can provide feedback in a quick, one-minute survey.

The Alberta EFP welcomes feedback on our social media platforms: Facebook and Twitter. The Alberta EFP wants to consider everyone’s input on this change.

The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) is a voluntary, whole farm, self-assessment tool that helps producers identify their environmental risks and develop plans to mitigate identified risks. Starting in 2003, over 8,000 farmers have completed an environmental farm plan with the help of over 50+ technicians based across the province.